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AUSTRALIA'S MISPLACED FRIENDSHIP WITH TURKEY
Eureka Street
Aug 23 2013
5 Comments
Peter Stanley | 25 August 2013
NSW Parliament recently passed a resolution condemning the genocide
perpetrated by the Ottoman empire against its Assyrian, Pontic Greek
and especially Armenian communities during the Great War.
The Turkish Consul-General in Sydney, the foreign ministry in Ankara
and even the city council in Canakkale (Gallipoli) immediately
responded. They deny that the genocide had even occurred and have
warned state parliamentarians that they will not be welcome in Turkey
when the two nations commemorate the centenary of the Gallipoli
campaign in 2015.
Australians unaware of the details might be surprised at the vehemence
of the Turkish response. Aren't Turkey and Australia friends? Don't
the Turks generously welcome Australian and New Zealand visitors to
Gallipoli throughout the year but especially in April? What have we
done to offend them?
The answer is that the parliamentarians have had the temerity to
acknowledge the truth about one of the great crimes against humanity of
the twentieth century. (Let's for the moment put aside the question of
whether a parliament's view is even relevant. If the parliamentarians
had resolved that the genocide had not happened it would still be
an historical fact. But both Turks and Armenians regard legislative
endorsement of their version of the past as scalps, and the Armenians
are winning.)
Australians have been captivated by the Turkish narrative of
Gallipoli. The Turkish nation has built around the campaign (in which
they defeated a British (and Anzac) and French invasion of Turkish
soil) a national epic of salvation. That Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the
father of the modern Turkish nation, commanded some of its defenders
makes Gallipoli part of Turkey's national founding myth. In this the
two nations have something in common.
The problem is that the day before the 1915 invasion, the Ottoman
empire, suspicious of its Armenian minority, embarked upon the
systematic elimination of the empire's Armenian population. Impartial
scholars accept that about a million-and-a-half of the empire's two
million Armenians were killed directly or died of starvation and
sickness over the next few years. Neutral missionaries and diplomats,
and even Turkey's German allies witnessed and reported the massacres
and deportations - as did Anzac prisoners of war.
The world was outraged at the time, and the surviving Armenian
community, including a substantial Armenian diaspora in the Middle
East, Europe, North America and Australia, has never forgotten it.
Turkey, on the other hand, denies that genocide occurred, disputing
its definition in international law or arguing that while villagers
may have been deported they died of incidental causes.
The NSW resolution disrupts the astoundingly successful charm
offensive Turkey has conducted in Australia for years, fostering a
positive relationship with Australia through the shared ordeal of
Gallipoli. The NSW resolution, instigated by Australia's energetic
Armenian National Council and promoted by the Christian Democrat MP
Rev. Fred Nile (but also by the premier Barry O'Farrell), has upset
Australia's acquiescence with Turkey's desire to emphasise the shared
history of Gallipoli while eliminating any reference to the genocide.
You might argue that the Armenian genocide is remote from the
Australian experience of the Great War. In fact, Australian troops
(both prisoners of war and as combatants) encountered the genocide
and its effects, and Australian civilians contributed vast amounts of
money and time to the international relief effort mounted from 1915
and for years after. In effect, Australian troops in the Middle East
were fighting to defeat a regime capable of state sponsored atrocity,
just as Australia's forces in the Second World War were fighting to
defeat the regime responsible for the Holocaust. The Armenian genocide
is part of the story of the Great War, something to which Australians
should not be blind, and certainly not blinded by Turkish denial.
The controversy obliges Australians to take sides. I am an impartial
historian, having been convinced of the facts by the historical
evidence. That claim makes me immediately suspect in Turkish eyes. I
suppose I'll be banned as well. But having examined the evidence,
I am co-writing a book on Australia and the Armenian genocide. As
President of the recently-formed coalition Honest History, dedicated
to standing up for honesty in our relationship to the past, I cannot
connive at the falsification of history.
Australia and Turkey are friends. But friends tell each other the
truth. They don't react like children - 'if you say that you can't
be my friend anymore!' Turkey's extraordinary response to the NSW
parliamentarians will oblige Australians to choose between being a
friend of Turkey or being a friend of the truth. I know which way
I choose.
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=37100#.UhgPyMRzZMs
Eureka Street
Aug 23 2013
5 Comments
Peter Stanley | 25 August 2013
NSW Parliament recently passed a resolution condemning the genocide
perpetrated by the Ottoman empire against its Assyrian, Pontic Greek
and especially Armenian communities during the Great War.
The Turkish Consul-General in Sydney, the foreign ministry in Ankara
and even the city council in Canakkale (Gallipoli) immediately
responded. They deny that the genocide had even occurred and have
warned state parliamentarians that they will not be welcome in Turkey
when the two nations commemorate the centenary of the Gallipoli
campaign in 2015.
Australians unaware of the details might be surprised at the vehemence
of the Turkish response. Aren't Turkey and Australia friends? Don't
the Turks generously welcome Australian and New Zealand visitors to
Gallipoli throughout the year but especially in April? What have we
done to offend them?
The answer is that the parliamentarians have had the temerity to
acknowledge the truth about one of the great crimes against humanity of
the twentieth century. (Let's for the moment put aside the question of
whether a parliament's view is even relevant. If the parliamentarians
had resolved that the genocide had not happened it would still be
an historical fact. But both Turks and Armenians regard legislative
endorsement of their version of the past as scalps, and the Armenians
are winning.)
Australians have been captivated by the Turkish narrative of
Gallipoli. The Turkish nation has built around the campaign (in which
they defeated a British (and Anzac) and French invasion of Turkish
soil) a national epic of salvation. That Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the
father of the modern Turkish nation, commanded some of its defenders
makes Gallipoli part of Turkey's national founding myth. In this the
two nations have something in common.
The problem is that the day before the 1915 invasion, the Ottoman
empire, suspicious of its Armenian minority, embarked upon the
systematic elimination of the empire's Armenian population. Impartial
scholars accept that about a million-and-a-half of the empire's two
million Armenians were killed directly or died of starvation and
sickness over the next few years. Neutral missionaries and diplomats,
and even Turkey's German allies witnessed and reported the massacres
and deportations - as did Anzac prisoners of war.
The world was outraged at the time, and the surviving Armenian
community, including a substantial Armenian diaspora in the Middle
East, Europe, North America and Australia, has never forgotten it.
Turkey, on the other hand, denies that genocide occurred, disputing
its definition in international law or arguing that while villagers
may have been deported they died of incidental causes.
The NSW resolution disrupts the astoundingly successful charm
offensive Turkey has conducted in Australia for years, fostering a
positive relationship with Australia through the shared ordeal of
Gallipoli. The NSW resolution, instigated by Australia's energetic
Armenian National Council and promoted by the Christian Democrat MP
Rev. Fred Nile (but also by the premier Barry O'Farrell), has upset
Australia's acquiescence with Turkey's desire to emphasise the shared
history of Gallipoli while eliminating any reference to the genocide.
You might argue that the Armenian genocide is remote from the
Australian experience of the Great War. In fact, Australian troops
(both prisoners of war and as combatants) encountered the genocide
and its effects, and Australian civilians contributed vast amounts of
money and time to the international relief effort mounted from 1915
and for years after. In effect, Australian troops in the Middle East
were fighting to defeat a regime capable of state sponsored atrocity,
just as Australia's forces in the Second World War were fighting to
defeat the regime responsible for the Holocaust. The Armenian genocide
is part of the story of the Great War, something to which Australians
should not be blind, and certainly not blinded by Turkish denial.
The controversy obliges Australians to take sides. I am an impartial
historian, having been convinced of the facts by the historical
evidence. That claim makes me immediately suspect in Turkish eyes. I
suppose I'll be banned as well. But having examined the evidence,
I am co-writing a book on Australia and the Armenian genocide. As
President of the recently-formed coalition Honest History, dedicated
to standing up for honesty in our relationship to the past, I cannot
connive at the falsification of history.
Australia and Turkey are friends. But friends tell each other the
truth. They don't react like children - 'if you say that you can't
be my friend anymore!' Turkey's extraordinary response to the NSW
parliamentarians will oblige Australians to choose between being a
friend of Turkey or being a friend of the truth. I know which way
I choose.
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=37100#.UhgPyMRzZMs